The Eldest Princess wore a face full of discontent, complaining to the Emperor at great length.
Only then did the Emperor smile, “Good, good, good. I have all your contributions recorded, and you shall not be left empty-handed!” After placating the Eldest Princess, he turned back to Xie Ning and said, “Xie Ning, you may not know this, but that old man who saved you is the gatekeeper at the Changyi Villa. He was initially unaware of your identity, but later, when the City Patrol issued notices everywhere searching for you, he went to report to Changyi. It was Changyi who rushed over overnight and summoned a physician for you—”
“So that was how it happened!” Xie Ning bowed to Xiao Rong, “Many thanks to Your Highness the Eldest Princess for your lifesaving grace!”
The Eldest Princess remarked lazily, “That is more like it.”
The Emperor then asked Xie Ning a few more casual questions such as whether she was accustomed to life in the capital—before finally stating, “You are not yet married, so there is no need to worry over your father’s funeral affairs; I shall have them arranged properly. If you or your mother ever face any trouble in the future, feel free to send word to me, and I shall surely see justice done for you!”
After showering him with endless gratitude, Xie Ning finally retired upon receiving his command.
Xiao Rong walked out alongside her, one in front and one behind, remaining silent the entire way. It was not until they stepped outside the palace gates that Xiao Rong said with a beaming smile, “Truly, a fool has fool’s luck!”
Xie Ning stared at her in confusion.
Xiao Rong let out a soft sigh, “I said, a minor trouble like this was never a real issue to begin with. Look, was it not quite simple?”
Xie Ning frowned, “Are you calling me a fool?”
Xiao Rong froze, the smile in her eyes deepening further: “For your sake, it is better to be a bit foolish!” Having said that, she offered no further explanation, entering her sedan directly and departing.
Xie Ning felt deeply uneasy hearing this. How was it that even after living a second life, she was still dismissed as merely “foolish” in Xiao Rong’s eyes? Well, that depended on who she was being compared to! If taken in comparison with Xiao Rong, then she truly could only be a fool for who could ever outmatch Her Highness the Eldest Princess, with her endless web of schemes?
Xie Ning felt thoroughly disheartened. She had intended to commit patricide and had planned meticulously for its success, yet she had never expected it to actually succeed. Now that Xie Yuanshan was dead, Xie Ning’s problems had not been resolved; instead, the situation had grown even more complex. In particular, the Emperor had just specifically brought up her unmarried status, which left Xie Ning feeling very unsettled.
Fortunately, with Xie Yuanshan’s death, Xie Ning was expected by protocol to observe a three-year period of filial mourning. During these three years, the matter of the imperial marriage decree was bound to be postponed. Unable to come up with a better solution for the time being, Xie Ning could only take it one step at a time. What mattered more right now was: now that Xie Yuanshan was dead, how would her mother react?
Xie Ning felt both anticipation and anxiety.
Meanwhile, inside the imperial palace, after both Xie Ning and Xiao Rong had departed, the Emperor once again summoned the imperial physician who had just checked Xie Ning’s pulse.
“To report to His Majesty, although Miss Xie possesses the physical innate frame for great strength, she suffers from severe postnatal deficiencies. According to my observations, she has endured long-term chronic hunger, resulting in incomplete physical development. She is indeed exceedingly frail; I fear she lacks even the strength to draw a bow.”
Having listened silently to the end, the Emperor waved his hand to dismiss him before speaking to his personal eunuch, Liu Xi, “It appears I overthought matters.”
He had suspected that Xie Yuanshan’s death was related to Xie Ning. Though lacking any real basis, the Emperor was suspicious by nature. “It is simply that this matter was far too coincidental.” First, Xie Yuanshan had strayed into the wild boar forest while pursuing Xie Ning, yet Xie Ning emerged unscathed while Xie Yuanshan met his death. Second, Xie Ning’s survival was credited to the rescue by the Eldest Princess, Xiao Rong. The main issue was that the Eldest Princess’s involvement had alerted the Emperor’s sharp political instincts. Even if logically it seemed impossible one being Xie Yuanshan’s daughter who had always been frail, and the other being the proud, spoiled Eldest Princess, both merely weak women unworthy of concern how could they possibly dare to strike against the dignified Zhenyuan General?
His suspicion had been entirely baseless, yet it still required verification. Fortunately, Xie Ning had acted unfamiliar with the Eldest Princess, and the Eldest Princess had treated her with cold indifference, which finally dispelled the Emperor’s doubts.
As Liu Xi served fresh tea to the Emperor, the Emperor looked at the teacup and instantly recalled the swollen bump on Xie Ning’s forehead, sighing, “Xie Yuanshan was simply rash and unrefined; how could he lack all sense of restraint even when striking his own wife and daughter!”
Liu Xi remarked, “General Xie was valiant and heroic on the battlefield, accustomed to being formidable. It was likely difficult for him to change his ways even at home.”
“How is Lady Xie’s condition now?”
“In reply to Your Majesty, the imperial physician says Lady Xie is covered in injuries accumulated over years. Though she is awake now, she was truly beaten severely last time and remains bedridden.”
After listening, the Emperor cursed Xie Yuanshan for a while longer, but left it at that. What troubled him even more now was the Crown Prince’s marriage: “I truly did not expect such an incident to occur. The matter of making Xie Ning the Crown Princess had already been mentioned privately to Xie Yuanshan, and I fear Lady Xie is aware of it as well. But now, with Xie Yuanshan dead and the Xie family leaving no male heir behind, how can an orphaned girl like Xie Ning be a suitable match for the Crown Prince?”
“Making her a side consort would be fine enough; my only fear is that the Xie mother and daughter are still clinging to the idea of her becoming the Crown Princess, causing some sort of farce later on.”
Liu Xi said, “I doubt they would dare. Besides, regarding the Crown Princess matter, Your Majesty merely mentioned it verbally without issuing an official imperial decree, so very few people know”
The Emperor sneered, “Do you think everyone is a fool like you? By now, who knows how many civil and military officials in court have already caught wind of it! Setting all else aside, while Xie Yuanshan’s bones are not yet cold, I cannot break my word to a mere woman! This matter truly puts me in a difficult position.”
Liu Xi said, “Xie Ning has just arrived in the capital and has no relatives or friends here. Her only connection is a slight acquaintance with Her Highness the Eldest Princess, who also saved her life. I wonder if Xie Ning might listen to the Eldest Princess’s words?”
Hearing this, the Emperor’s eyes instantly lit up, “Well said! Quick, have Changyi come here at once!”
Xiao Rong had not yet returned to the Eldest Princess’s residence when she was called back by the Emperor halfway through her journey. Though suspicion filled her mind, she showed not a trace of it on her face: “Your daughter pays respects to Imperial Father!”
“Changyi, quickly rise,” the Emperor said. “Has Xie Ning returned?”
“In reply to Imperial Father, acting on your command, I have already seen her off outside the palace gates.”
The Emperor sighed, “She is a pitiful child as well! You two are close in age; you should take greater care of her in the future, so as not to dishearten the descendant of a loyal minister.”
The Eldest Princess’s eyes flickered slightly, “With Imperial Father present, why should your daughter worry! Besides, this Xie Ning knows nothing of etiquette and acts in a crude and unrefined manner; I do not care for her.”
“She was raised since childhood in a place like Bianyang Pass, and Xie Yuanshan was a military general. How could one expect her to understand etiquette?” The Emperor gestured for Xiao Rong to come closer, “You are the sole Eldest Princess in the entire court; you ought to serve as an example for women, and even more so take care of Xie Ning to let her learn from you.”
Xiao Rong blinked, “Imperial Father, if you want her to learn from me, you should tell her instead. Could I possibly force her to emulate me?”
“You silly girl!” The Emperor glared at her, “As for Xie Ning, I shall naturally send someone to speak to her. But as for you, making excuses left and right—where is your demeanor as the Eldest Princess!” Pausing, he added, “I have an important task to entrust to you!”
Only then did the Eldest Princess raise her eyes, “What matter?”
“Did you not say Xie Ning lacks etiquette? I intend to betroth her to the Crown Prince. Since you two are similar in age, guide her more and teach her palace etiquette; consider it a great accomplishment on your part!”
The Eldest Princess blinked slowly, “Imperial Father, teaching the Crown Princess etiquette should that not be the task of the Institute of Fine Arts?”
Upon hearing this, the Emperor’s face instantly darkened.
Xiao Rong immediately fell to her knees to plead guilty, “Your daughter has misspoken; please forgive my offense, Imperial Father!”
With a cold face, the Emperor said, “So even you knew of my intention to make her the Crown Princess?”
Xiao Rong dared not make a sound.
A deep silence fell over the Hall of Grand Celebration, as if a somber, giant beast had opened its blood-red maw, ready to swallow everything whole at any moment.
After a long while, the Emperor finally sighed, “She must now observe three years of filial mourning, and she is an orphaned girl. Bestowing her upon the Crown Prince as a side consort can already be considered generous treatment on my part. As for the matter of the Crown Princess, we shall discuss it again later. However, even as a side consort of the Eastern Palace, she cannot lack propriety in front of others. Since she cannot enter the Institute of Fine Arts, Changyi, the task of instructing and managing Xie Ning shall be handed over to you in the future. In my view, this Xie Ning’s temperament resembles her father’s—both are blunt and simple-minded people. If forced harshly, I fear it will backfire; you must spend some effort to make her willing.”
Seeing that Xiao Rong did not speak, the Emperor added, “I will not treat you unfairly either. If you instruct her well, I can grant you one small wish—so long as it does not violate the law, you may ask for whatever you wish.”
Only then did the Eldest Princess raise her head, “Imperial Father is indeed the best to your daughter. Although this task is laborious and thankless, with Your Majesty’s royal word, I shall surely do my utmost to fulfill it!”
“Very well, rise!” the Emperor said. “It is not that I intend to make things difficult for you; it is simply that as the Eldest Princess, you naturally bear greater responsibility. Furthermore, Xie Ning seemed to favor you from the very moment she arrived, and on top of that, you saved her life. All things considered, you are the most suitable candidate. I promise you: if you face any difficulties in handling Xie Ning’s matters in the future, feel free to come to me.”
The Eldest Princess let out a great sigh of relief, “With these words from Imperial Father, your daughter feels at ease! I will surely guide Xie Ning well!”
Only then was the Emperor satisfied. Just as the Eldest Princess accepted the order and turned to retire, he added with feigned nonchalance, “You should also pay a visit to the Xie Residence to see Lady Xie, and incidentally sound out her thoughts to see if she knows that I originally intended to grant Xie Ning as the Crown Princess.”
The Eldest Princess paused, accepting the decree before withdrawing: “Your daughter obeys the decree!”
Though her face remained serene, she could not help sneering inwardly. All that talk earlier was merely a feint; the real task entrusted to her was to shut Lady Xie’s mouth. As the widow of a fallen general, if Lady Xie were to make a scene and let the world know that the Emperor had broken his promise, would it not chill the hearts of other military officers?
As for teaching Xie Ning etiquette if Xie Ning were merely a side consort, her etiquette was hardly that important; finding any instructional matron in the palace to train her for two or three months would suffice. On the surface, the task handed to Xiao Rong was to teach Xie Ning etiquette, but in reality, it was to make Xiao Rong dispel Xie Ning’s foolish hope of becoming the Crown Princess.
Imperial Father remains as self-righteous as ever,* the Eldest Princess thought to herself. If she remembered correctly, Xie Ning had once explicitly stated that she had no desire to become the Crown Princess. Of course, stated as such, whether Xie Ning truly thought so was something the Eldest Princess still needed to verify further.
Most importantly, the Emperor had given Xiao Rong a promise. Although Xiao Rong knew its effect was limited, if she could execute this task beautifully, that “Emperor’s promise” might prove to be of great use. Xiao Rong would never be misled by the Emperor’s superficial fine words; she understood deeply that what the Emperor truly wanted was not the instruction of Xie Ning, but rather for the Xie family mother and daughter to willingly give up the position of Crown Princess. Ideally, they would step forward voluntarily and plead repeatedly, making the whole world know that it was they themselves who failed to appreciate good fortune and refused to become the Crown Princess—thus allowing her martial Imperial Father to appear as a benevolent and righteous monarch who was forced to satisfy their wishes, letting the whole world sing praises of his good name rather than cursing him behind his back for breaking faith with a woman and failing loyal soldiers who laid down their lives for him.
Xiao Rong understood all too well what the Emperor wanted. Precisely because of this, she needed to execute this matter meticulously to maximize her own benefits. And the key to all of this lay in how firmly she could grasp Xie Ning in her hands.
Regarding this point, Xiao Rong held a slight advantage. She could guess that Xie Yuanshan’s death was inextricably linked to Xie Ning.
On the night she rescued Xie Ning, she had discovered numerous claw marks on Xie Ning’s clothes, which her subordinates investigated and found to be identical to the wild boar claw marks on Xie Yuanshan’s body. This proved at the very least that Xie Ning had also faced the wild boar directly. Yet the strange part was that Xie Ning had faced the boar and emerged completely unharmed, while Xie Yuanshan met his death instead. If this matter were left uninvestigated, it would pass, but once investigated, Xie Ning would certainly be implicated.
As for Xie Ning’s clothes from that night, the Eldest Princess had naturally not discarded them; such obvious evidence had been preserved meticulously by her.
This was currently the greatest leverage she held over Xie Ning. Yet for some unknown reason, whenever Xiao Rong thought of using this leverage to threaten Xie Ning, an inexplicable sense of unease and dread welled up in her heart. The Eldest Princess could not explain why, but she decided to observe Xie Ning’s performance first before making a decision.